After an incredible career playing in the NBA and decades of experience in the business world, Magic Johnson finally reached billionaire status recently.
Magic Johnson’s net worth as of 2024 exceeds $1.2 billion.
While most people know him for his exceptional talent on the basketball court, much of the athlete’s wealth stems from his business ventures and smart investments.
Today, Johnson joins the ranks of Tiger Woods, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan, and is the fourth athlete to reach billionaire status.
In this post, we’ll shine a light on his journey to building his net worth.
How Much is Magic Johnson Worth in 2024
- Exceeds $1.2 billion net worth from business ventures and investments.
- Made $25 million from his LA Lakers contract.
- Sold his stake in the LA Lakers for $50-60 million.
- Owns Magic Johnson Enterprises, valued at $1 billion.
- Investments in real estate, sports teams, and various businesses.
- Earns from public speaking and EquiTrust life insurance company.
Magic Johnson Net Worth: Full Breakdown
Finding the precise sources of Magic Johnson’s billion-dollar net worth is challenging because the information isn’t available publicly.
However, our estimate considers his business investments, basketball career earnings, assets, as well as the success of his company.
| Asset | Contribution to Net Worth |
| LA Lakers stake | Approx. 5%, sold for $50-60 million |
| Magic Johnson Enterprises | Valued at $1 billion, personal stake unknown |
| EquiTrust stake | 60%, worth approx. $15 million |
| LA Lakers contract | $25 million over 25 years |
| LA Lakers coach salary | N/A |
| Sale of Starbuck chain | $75 million |
| Public speaking fees | $200,000 per appearance |
| Real estate | $19+ million |
| Car collection | Approx. $1 million |
| Private jet | $40 million |
| Total Net Worth | $1.2+ billion |
5 Fun Facts about NBA Legend Magic Mike
- Fourth athlete to reach billionaire status, joining Tiger Woods, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan.
- Owns a Beverly Hills mansion worth around $11.5 million.
- Turned down Nike’s offer, missing out on becoming a billionaire sooner.
- Played for the LA Lakers for 13 seasons, winning five NBA championships.
- Holds a 60% stake in EquiTrust, valued at approximately $15 million.
Latest News & Controversies
In 2024, Magic Johnson continues to make headlines, particularly for his impact as a co-owner of the Washington Commanders. Johnson, along with a consortium, finalized the record-breaking $6.05 billion acquisition of the NFL team in mid-2023.
His involvement brought significant attention due to his stature in sports and business.
Controversies around this deal include issues with the team’s previous owner, Dan Snyder, who faced scrutiny for workplace misconduct during his tenure, which impacted the team’s reputation. Johnson has since focused on improving the team’s image and culture.
Additionally, Johnson remains actively involved in business and philanthropy, emphasizing social justice and healthcare initiatives. His commitment to HIV awareness and support for underrepresented communities continues to be a cornerstone of his philanthropic efforts.
The Early Life of a Basketball and Business Star
Magic Johnson was born Earvin Johnson Jr. on August 14, 1959, in Lansing, Michigan. He is the son of Earvin Sr., who worked on an assembly line at General Motors, and Christine Johnson, a school janitor.
At an early age, Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. fell in love with basketball, with Earl Monroe as one of his favorite players at the time. He attended Lansing Everett High School and played on their basketball team.
At the age of 15, he got his nickname “Magic” after scoring a triple-double with 18 rebounds, 36 points, and 16 assists.
This is when his story began, only going uphill from there.
Many colleges offered him a scholarship due to his success on the court, but he chose Michigan State University to stay close to home. He graduated from Michigan State in 1979.
In 1991, Johnson married Earlitha Kelly, also known as Cookie, in his hometown. the family has a son, Earvin III, and a daughter Elisa. Johnson also has another son, Andre Johnson from his relationship with Melissa Mitchel.
Magic Johnson Net Worth: From a Lakers Legend to a Rich Entrepreneur
Magic Johnson embarked on his journey to fame as a basketball player, but his net worth also includes earnings from his investments in sports teams and various businesses. Let’s see how he amassed over a billion dollars in his career.
Basketball Career
Since most people recognize Johnson as one of the best players on the court, we’ll start by telling you the story of his basketball career.
Rookie Season
At the time of his graduation, he was already a popular basketball player. He led his high school team to a state championship when he was in his senior season! In his final year at university, he also led his team to the NCAA finals where they played against Indiana State University.
Michigan State defeated Indiana, and Magic Johnson won the title “Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four”.
Magic Johnson and his rival Larry Bird were exquisite in this match, so much so that their face-off turned out to be the most-watched college basketball game on TV – and one of the greatest rivalries in the history of sports.
Johnson’s NBA Career
After he led his teams to victory in high school and college, Johnson was selected to play as the first overall player by the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Draft in 1979. He would go on to play for the Lakers for a total of 13 seasons from this point forward.
In the draft, the former Spartan helped the team to win the 1980 Finals and as a result, he won the Finals MVP award. To this day, he remains the only rookie to have won this title.
This period marks Johnson’s prime playing years on the court. Over his 13-year career, he would win five NBA championships and play in 12 All-Star games. He also won “NBA Most Valuable Player” or MVP three times.
During the NBA Finals, the Lakers icon played in all five positions. His combination of court vision, talent, and size made him the best point guard in the NBA.
Reportedly, he signed a $25 million contract with the Lakers for 25 years.
Johnson’s Retirement from Basketball
In 1991, Magic’s career was abruptly cut short when he found that he had HIV. Despite this and after his retirement, he was chosen to compete for the US basketball team in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
While people thought he would die from the disease because effective treatments hadn’t been discovered yet, Johnson spoke about his time in the Olympics as “almost like a lifesaver”, since it helped him realize that he could still live a productive life.
Even though the Australian Olympic delegation tried to boycott the games in protest of Johnson playing, allegedly to protect players from being infected, Johnson received public support and still played.
Instead of Chuck Daly’s suggestion that he serve as the team’s public face, Johnson chose to take on the role of co-captain of the team, right alongside Bird and Daly. The trio was spectacular over the previous 13 seasons in the NBA. They won 10 NBA championships when they played together.
Magic returned to the NBA as the Laker’s coach at the end of the 1993-1994 season but resigned after a few lost games. His final record as a head coach was 5-11.
Instead of coaching, the five-time NBA champion decided to buy a stake in the team. He reportedly had a 5% share of the LA Lakers in 1994, but he later sold it.
Brief Comeback in Basketball
During the 1995-1996 season, Magic Johnson, then 36 years old, made a comeback with his team, the Lakers. The record was excellent, 22-10, but the team faced defeat in the playoffs against the Houston Rockets, which prompted Johnson to retire once again, this time permanently.
Charity Work
Magic Johnson is a known philanthropist, having invested a fortune in social causes. In 1991, he started the Magic Johnson Foundation, an organization that develops programs to support the community. The foundation is mainly focused on raising HIV awareness.
Magic Johnson’s Business Ventures and Investments
Retiring from basketball was unexpected, but Johnson didn’t exactly step away from the spotlight. He just found another medium to use his skills – entrepreneurship.
Over the years, Johnson has invested in a variety of brands, opened his own businesses, and has created quite a real estate portfolio.
Entrepreneurship
Let’s take a look at where Johnson has invested his money over the years.
Magic Johnson Enterprises Portfolio
One of the biggest successes of the former athlete is his Magic Johnson Enterprises conglomerate. After founding it in 1987, he used the conglomerate to invest in diverse industries including real estate, healthcare, and entertainment.
The business is now valued at over a billion dollars, and it adds a fortune to Magic Johnson’s net worth.
Magic Johnson Enterprises achieved success through a partnership with Starbucks’s CEO Howard Schultz. Their collaboration involved opening several Starbucks stores in underdeveloped, urban areas. This contributed to the creation of jobs and increased investments in these areas.
In 2010, Johnson sold his stake in Starbucks for a reported $75 million.
In its early days, the company owned several franchises including Burger King locations and fitness centers. Today, Magic Johnson Enterprises offers marketing services, company investments, and speaking engagements.
People can hire Johnson to speak for a minimum of $200,000 per speech.
In 2008, Johnson secured a deal with Best Buy Co. to do their marketing for several years. And despite selling his interest in the Lakers and Starbucks, the company continued to thrive and signed many other profitable deals, including the ones with Sodexo and TGI Friday.
The enterprise owns a movie studio and a marketing company called Magic Johnson Theaters, too.
However, the most profitable investment to date is in the EquiTrust life insurance company. The life insurance company is based in Iowa, and Johnson has had a 60% stake in it since 2015.
Since he became the majority owner, the company’s total assets grew to $26 billion with annual revenues of $2.6 billion.
Sports Teams Ownership Stakes
Back in 1994, Magic Johnson spent $10 million for a 5% stake in the Lakers, but he sold this for around $50-$60 million to healthcare billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong in 2010.
In addition to this, Johnson is affiliated with Guggenheim Baseball Management, a consortium that holds interest in sports teams such as the Los Angeles Sparks, Los Angeles Dodgers (acquired for $2 billion), and the Washington Commanders of the NFL.
He has a minority ownership in the LA Sparks, LAFC, and the Washington Commanders.
Finally, Johnson is one of the investors of eXiomatic eSports, the company that owns Team Liquid, though his stake in this is unknown.
Johnson’s Biggest Investment Mistake
The story of Johnson turning down Nike’s offer was featured in “Winning Time”. Here is how he reflects on the decision:
When I first came out of college, all the shoe companies came after me. There was this guy, Phil Knight, who just started Nike. So he said something about stocks. “I’m gonna give you a lot of stocks”. I didn’t know nothing about stocks.
According to the episode, he was offered 100,000 shares of Nike, which would be worth $5.2 billion today. Basically, Johnson rejected an offer that would have made him a billionaire sooner – and a much richer man.
“Boy, did I make a mistake. I’m still kicking myself. Every time I’m in a Nike store, I get mad. I could’ve been making money off of everybody buying Nikes right now, I would have been a trillionaire by now,” he said.
Real Estate Portfolio
A lot of Johnson’s net worth today goes into real estate. He and his wife own a Beverly Hills mansion in Beverly Park, which is their main residence. The residence is worth around $11.5 million today.
At one point, they owned a house in Hawaii, but they swapped it for a house closer to their main residence, on the mainland. They now own a Tuscan-style beach house in Orange County worth $7.6 million.
Johnson told Architectural Digest in 2009:
We used to own a second home in Napili, Hawaii, but we just said, ‘Man, it’s too far to get to, especially with young kids.’
Johnson owned a Bel Air estate between 1981 and 1990. He bought it for $600,000 and sold it for $2 million.
Car Collection
Last but not least, Johnson has a luxury car collection worth over a million dollars today, and he reportedly owns a private jet, a Gulfstream III worth $40 million.
Some of the cars he has owned over the years include:
- Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe
- Cadillac Escalade
- Mercedes G63 AMG
- Lincoln Mark LT Pickup Truck
- Bentley Continental V8
What Can We Learn From Magic Johnson’s Success?
We all have much to learn from Magic Johnson’s success over the years. He’s not just the fourth athlete to reach billionaire status – but also a masterful entrepreneur in the business world.
In addition to a highly profitable NBA career, Johnson has demonstrated an exceptional talent for business and built his business empire from scratch.
Diversifying investments is vital, as exemplified by Magic Johnson’s choices.
His journey demonstrates the unpredictability life brings us. His basketball career and life in general faced a downturn when he disclosed his HIV-positive status – and a major one.
Even though he played a bit after, his career was never the same, and the diagnosis caused a major shift in the trajectory of his life.
Primarily, his story is a testament to the strength of perseverance. In an era when HIV was perceived as a fatal diagnosis (and often was fatal before treatments were discovered), he defied prejudices and fears and became the architect of his fate.
He could have simply given up and rested on his laurels but he just rolled with the punches and found new ways to be successful.
Finally, Johnson teaches us that mistakes do happen – and that we need to learn from them. He openly acknowledges rejecting Nike’s offer that would have made him a billionaire a lot sooner.